I wanted to like it, I really did. But id say if your into realism don't read this book. It suffers from Light Novel syndrome, the character is considered ditsy by everyone else and I could swear I could see a harem building in the the background. He went through his training in a couple months, essential getting a cheat code from the shadow guys and powering through his training relying all on magic and not skill.Also serious lack of any divergence from the obvious tropes, maiden in castle, arrogant hero, etc. But what instantly made me drop the book and delete it from my Hard Drive faster than you could shake a stick is when a 13 year old girl with no training got her sword (Magic powers)in A WEEK. When he took several MONTHS which is extremely fast,AND he had 8 YEARS of self-training beforehand. It should have taken the Main Character years of training to get good, which is what his master told him, but not him because he is the Main Character.Just waving your hands and saying MAGIC! does not make your story have a coherent plot or a compelling narrative. If the author was more mature in his writing, the training more focused and the main character actually grew some skill instead of acting like a wet noodle the book could have been great. As is its a maiden in a castle story with an interesting magic system that is more or less never explained.What gets me is it could have been so much more... I usually avoid self-published sci-fi and fantasy novels, and for reasons I think most of us can agree on. However, I stumbled across this book for $1.99 on Amazon and was intrigued enough by the pull quote to pick it up. Though it suffered from many of the usual quirks of self-publishing (typos, grammatical errors, some stilted dialogue, etc.) I found myself too pleased by the world building and unique take on magical powers to be too upset by(most of) it.In the Traveler's Gate series, magic isn't obtainable by just anyone. Magic power flows into the "main" world from several alternate planes of existence, each with their own rules and elemental natures. Travelers, as magic-users are known, obtain their power by traveling to one of these alternate realms and either finding objects of power or forging bonds with its inhabitants before returning. Each realm has its own distinct character as well as "mode" of magic using; for example, Travelers of Naraka use a magical brand on their palm to summon fire and heat-based creatures and powers to fight, while Travelers of Ornheim can create and control powerful golems and crystalline instruments and Travelers of Tartarus wield nigh-unbreakable magical weapons and summon similarly tough armor. For me, this part of the book alone -- the learning about the different realms and their power sets -- was worth the price point.The story, though a bit disjointed due to three different points of view, isn't nearly as tough to follow as some reviewers here are claiming. Rather than being the prophesied hero who just GETS his Traveler power for being the prophesied hero, the main protagonist is presented as an otherwise unremarkable boy driven to become a Traveler to avenge his parents' deaths at that hands of others. Another thing about this book I enjoyed -- and judging by the number of people decrying it, I might be the only one -- is the moral ambiguity of it all. There is not a binary "these are good, these are evil" morality. There is a war on, and each side tends to present itself as the 100% good guy, meaning the reader will have to deal with that knowledge. There are evil things done in the name of good, and good things done which accidentally propagate evil. The main protagonist is not some one-dimensional "Good Guy (tm)" but someone who experiences jealousy and grief and rage and feelings of inadequacy like a real person. Another narrator is a spy pretending to be someone they aren't.In summary, I recommend this book if you enjoy a unique fantasy world and a realistic level of moral ambiguity; if you need a plot spoon-fed to you and can't overlook the telltale signs of a relatively inexperienced author, go re-read Tolkien.
What do You think about House Of Blades (2013)?
Blown away by this book, was drawn in and loved it. Looking forward to devouring the second.
—junietunes
Fun, interesting, entertaining read. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
—iLove_Me
Unique fantasy world. Pretty well executed.
—ankit0605
